Glossary: T

Textile motorcycle garments have become very popular in recent years with an ever increasing range available. These are usually made from high tenacity nylons, Cordura® being one branded example. Rarely will one of these garments give you protection anything like that of leather suits: at the time of writing there are just three garments deemed sufficient to meet with CE Approval. Most are the equivalent of a tough waterproof with CE armour fitted and no more. If you are serious about protection look very closely and demand to know what performance level is on offer – if any.

BKS have been developing a police jacket in textile for some selected UK forces and our aim is to equal that of our leather jacket (i.e Level 3 / High Performance). Any less than this would not meet the standards of protection we believe the professional rider needs.

In developing this textile jacket, we have noticed that the garment is not any lighter in weight, cooler to wear, or easier to move around in. With so many layers and the inflexibility of nylon fabrics, the combination required to give you this protection has not achieved any advantage over leather.  If textile garments have a place in your motorcycling wardrobe, it will be for the advantage for climate protection and not accident protection.

6mm-thick PVC Nitrile foams, similar to those in our back protectors, are sewn into strategically placed areas in some designs of suit. Usually found on the torso and in particular the chest and collarbone area, they have a useful presence in the side back and shoulder blade. They also feature on the front of the thigh, the lower bicep and the coccyx. They are held in place with a leather backing which will contribute to these areas having an extremely high level of abrasion resistance too.